Sell-By Dates Are Mostly Made Up

[obillo]

And they have little to do with safety. They have everything to do with profit, and consumers can profit from them too. Every manufacturer knows his ideal (most profitable) rate of production: the number of units produced per hour that results in the best economy of scale. BUT--he has to keep the line moving. To do that, he invents Sell-By Dates to encourage retailers to clear their shelves of "old" stock to make way for the next shipment. Within any industry there is no consistency of sell-by dates. No science determines them--only economics. Past-date stuff has not turned poisonous overnight, but retailers dump old stock anyway because consumers trust the dates. Even retailers who know better don't dare sell old stock, Just imagine: a consumer gets a bellyache (for whatever reason) and calls a lawyer. Citing the sell-by date. the lawyer will talk any jury into awarding an astronomical settlement. On the other hand, when I trained at Fort Devens in the 1960s, all 3500 of us regularly ate C-Rations while on field exercises, and the rations were older than we were.
Sell-By Dates ARE usually valid when it comes to perishables, particularly dairy products. Milk and cream will sour. Butter and soft cheese may turn rancid. But rely on your nose. The famous Murray's cheese in NYC sells excellent French brie for $24-$29 a pound. That's out of my league. Amazon sells President brie--a respected supermarket brand known all over France--at about $11 a pound. Every now and then one of my local outlet stores has President brie that's within a month of "expiration" for $1.99 a pound--and in two weeks the 1-pound wheels will be cut to
99 cents. I'll grab 4 and put 3 in the freezer.

 

[jennyema]

Please don’t ever freeze Brie

Can You Freeze Cheese? – Président®

It's easy to freeze food without a second thought. But can you freeze cheese? The answer ultimately depends on how you’re going to use it.

presidentcheese.com

 

[IC 2.0]

And they have little to do with safety. They have everything to do with profit, and consumers can profit from them too. Every manufacturer knows his ideal (most profitable) rate of production: the number of units produced per hour that results in the best economy of scale. BUT--he has to keep the line moving. To do that, he invents Sell-By Dates to encourage retailers to clear their shelves of "old" stock to make way for the next shipment. Within any industry there is no consistency of sell-by dates. No science determines them--only economics. Past-date stuff has not turned poisonous overnight, but retailers dump old stock anyway because consumers trust the dates. Even retailers who know better don't dare sell old stock, Just imagine: a consumer gets a bellyache (for whatever reason) and calls a lawyer. Citing the sell-by date. the lawyer will talk any jury into awarding an astronomical settlement. On the other hand, when I trained at Fort Devens in the 1960s, all 3500 of us regularly ate C-Rations while on field exercises, and the rations were older than we were.
Sell-By Dates ARE usually valid when it comes to perishables, particularly dairy products. Milk and cream will sour. Butter and soft cheese may turn rancid. But rely on your nose. The famous Murray's cheese in NYC sells excellent French brie for $24-$29 a pound. That's out of my league. Amazon sells President brie--a respected supermarket brand known all over France--at about $11 a pound. Every now and then one of my local outlet stores has President brie that's within a month of "expiration" for $1.99 a pound--and in two weeks the 1-pound wheels will be cut to
99 cents. I'll grab 4 and put 3 in the freezer.

And this is why you shouldn't believe everything you read on the internet lol

 

[Roll_Bones]

Last night my wife wanted corn bread with the left over chili. I remembered I had a package of Martha White's corn muffin mix. This thread had me check the date. It was best used by 01-2021. So it was almost 3 years old.
They were not good. I threw them out and made some from scratch. It had to be the age as they should have been better as I remember.

 

[GotGarlic]

Last night my wife wanted corn bread with the left over chili. I remembered I had a package of Martha White's corn muffin mix. This thread had me check the date. It was best used by 01-2021. So it was almost 3 years old.
They were not good. I threw them out and made some from scratch. It had to be the age as they should have been better as I remember.

If there's a fat in it, it may have gone rancid.

 

[cookiecrafter]

Last night my wife wanted corn bread with the left over chili. I remembered I had a package of Martha White's corn muffin mix. This thread had me check the date. It was best used by 01-2021. So it was almost 3 years old.
They were not good. I threw them out and made some from scratch. It had to be the age as they should have been better as I remember.

I cycle my goods per season. At the moment, I have several things posted Jan/2023.

Cannot be anything that I like or I would have eaten it by now!

 

[Roll_Bones]

I cycle my goods per season. At the moment, I have several things posted Jan/2023.

Cannot be anything that I like or I would have eaten it by now!

I am certain there are several items in the pantry that are way out of date. In fact there are several cans I know of right now that have been in there for years.

 

[dragnlaw]

I am certain there are several items in the pantry that are way out of date. In fact there are several cans I know of right now that have been in there for years.

Ditto, I believe I posted earlier on some scallops that survived the freezer waaaay past the date. There was just a slight edge of freezer burn which cut off easily and the taste was astounding. I fully thought I was wasting my time to cook them. Was so glad I did!

I also have individual packages of yogurt. Months past. Still good. Key lime is my favourite.

 

[taxlady]

Ditto, I believe I posted earlier on some scallops that survived the freezer waaaay past the date. There was just a slight edge of freezer burn which cut off easily and the taste was astounding. I fully thought I was wasting my time to cook them. Was so glad I did!

I also have individual packages of yogurt. Months past. Still good. Key lime is my favourite.

I buy crème fraiche and sour cream from a company called Riviera. They sell it in packages of 2 little glass jars of 120 ml (~4 US fluid ounces) each. Those last for months past the best before date. When they are quite old, they will go off very quickly once opened. But, that's one of the advantages of the two little glass jars. It's usually easy to use one up quickly.

 

[dragnlaw]

When I moved from the farm I had to send to recycle 2 boxes of their jars. LOL
I also got their goat butter. Good stuff.

 

[taxlady]

When I moved from the farm I had to send to recycle 2 boxes of their jars. LOL
I also got their goat butter. Good stuff.

The little jars are so cute, you don't want to throw them out. I bought plastic lids for those little jars from Lufa Farms. I reuse a bunch, but I have a bigger bunch in a bag. I'm thinking of offering them in my local "buy nothing" group on FB. I got some of their spreadable goat cheese with basil and chives, very nice. It came with a lid. Good thing it did, 'cause I don't have any lids that size.

 

[cookiecrafter]

I am certain there are several items in the pantry that are way out of date. In fact there are several cans I know of right now that have been in there for years.

I know people with girl scout cookies & boy scout popcorn that's 40 (Forty) years old!

 

[cookiecrafter]

Why does all brands of evaporated milk expire in December?

 

[dragnlaw]

Because people use up all their old stuff in December's cookies and rush out to buy new ones... for the following December.